6 Bold Squarespace Templates That Will Take Your Author Website to the Next Level
Squarespace Templates: The Secret to Building the Author Website of Your Dreams
For today's authors, a solid online presence is indispensable. A well-executed author platform (social media, newsletter, and website) can make the difference between your work gaining a broader readership and disappearing into the internet void.
Yes, you still need an author website!
An author website provides an ideal platform for showcasing your work and connecting with readers, allowing you to establish your brand and take control of your online reputation. Think of it as a home base for promoting your books, sharing updates, and engaging with fans on a personal level. And with the ability to directly communicate with your readers and grow your email lists, you can't afford not to have a website. Plus, let's remember the networking potential! By building relationships with industry pros and like-minded writers, your website can open up new and exciting opportunities you never thought possible.
Here's an article about why you need an author website and the secrets to building a fabulous one.
Need some inspiration for your author website?
Check out these posts:
Squarespace is the easiest way for authors to build a professional author website.
Squarespace is an excellent choice for authors, as it's an all-in-one platform that helps create an eye-catching and feature-loaded online presence. With various templates designed to display written works, authors can effortlessly find designs that vibe with their unique style and genre. In addition, thanks to the platform's intuitive drag-and-drop editor and customization options, authors can craft a bespoke website without much tech expertise.
Additionally, Squarespace offers essential built-in features like blogging, e-commerce integration for selling books, newsletter sign-ups, and social media sharing options. These features empower authors to share their work and connect with readers, grow their audience, and enhance online visibility.
And let's remember Squarespace's mobile responsiveness, which ensures an author's website looks and works like a charm across devices, offering a silky-smooth browsing experience for on-the-go readers.
Squarespace templates are pre-designed websites.
The easiest, quickest, and cheapest way to build a fantastic author website is to use a Squarespace template.
Squarespace templates are pre-designed websites. These templates act as a starting point for users to build and customize their websites without creating everything from scratch. They come in various designs and styles, catering to different industries, professions, and purposes, such as portfolios, online stores, blogs, and more.
You can pick from Squarespace-designed templates or third-party designer Squarespace templates for your author website.
Squarespace Templates can be templates designed by Squarespace or designers on Squarespace.
Squarespace offers its own templates that you can use for your author website.
Squarespace boasts a selection of professionally crafted templates already included in the price of Squarespace. These in-house templates are thoughtfully designed to accommodate the diverse needs of various industries and styles, including those of authors. Conceived with an emphasis on user experience, Squarespace's templates enable authors to effortlessly establish visually captivating and functional websites without delving into the complexities of web design.
Designer templates can take your author's website to the next level.
You can also purchase a Squarespace template from a designer. Designer-crafted Squarespace templates offer a unique and stylish option compared to the templates made by Squarespace. Crafted by independent designers and developers with a deep understanding of the platform, these third-party templates provide extra design choices and features beyond what's available in Squarespace's collection. Moreover, these designers often create templates tailored to specific industries, ensuring a more personalized and targeted design for various professions, including authors.
While Squarespace's in-house templates are usually polished and dependable, third-party templates can cater to specific tastes or needs that might not be found in the default options. For example, these templates might include extra features, unique layouts, or custom integrations specialized for particular industries.
You’ll likely get a better website by buying a Squarespace template rather than DIY-ing your website.
When it comes to building a website, opting for a Squarespace template can be a game-changer compared to the daunting task of DIYing your site. Designers have honed their craft and possess the expertise to create effective and visually stunning templates. They understand the subtle tips and techniques necessary to make your website aesthetically pleasing and capable of converting visitors into loyal fans, listeners, readers, or clients.
By investing a few hundred dollars in a Squarespace template, you gain access to this valuable knowledge and experience. This means you can confidently showcase your brand, knowing that your website is professionally designed and optimized to captivate and engage your audience. Save yourself time, frustration, and the risk of a lackluster website by harnessing the power of a well-crafted Squarespace template designed by experts.
I love Squarespace templates so much that this website is built from this GoLiveHQ Squarespace template.
You’ll have a lot of design flexibility with each Squarespace template.
You can edit and change Squarespace templates without needing to be a tech whiz. You can easily switch up the layout, colors, fonts, images, and more to give your website a unique look and feel that suits your brand and personal style. This level of customization is super empowering because you can ensure that your author's website embodies the essence of your writing. In addition, with Squarespace's intuitive drag-and-drop editor and other easy-to-use features, you can edit your site quickly!
However, more sophisticated customizations might be more expensive, time-consuming, and require coding knowledge. Avoid the headache by hiring a designer to install and customize your Squarespace template.
Key features you should look for when purchasing a Squarespace template for your author website:
If you're considering using Squarespace for your author website, you might feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of templates available. We've compiled a list of our favorite Squarespace shops and templates to simplify things. These templates include the essential pages every author's website needs. These pages typically include the home page, about page, portfolio page, blog page, and contact page, although some templates offer additional pages.
Each template featured is a Squarespace 7.1 template built on the latest version of Squarespace. I highly recommend purchasing only a Squarespace 7.1 template because Squarespace has stated that Squarespace will no longer update templates before 7.1. This means that a website built on a pre-7.1 template will continue to exist but will not receive any new features or tech updates.
Most templates from these shops range in price from $200 to $300, providing an affordable option for those who want a professional-looking website without breaking the bank.
Remember that these templates usually include standard pages like home, about, portfolio, blog, and contact, but some templates may offer additional pages or customization options such as shop pages. In addition, some of these templates include matching social media templates, so your website and social media will have a cohesive look.
Finally, some templates include the option to feature videos throughout the website. This is an innovative and essential feature. Video will only become more critical in the coming years.
A few of my favorite Squarespace template shops and Squarespace templates for your author website:
Two of my favorite Squarespace template shops are 23&9 Creative and Applet Studio. These shops offer a variety of styles and designs, from bold and colorful to sophisticated and robust, ensuring that there's a template for every author's unique aesthetic.
Notably, some templates have shop pages as well. I don’t recommend Squarespace for e-commerce (aka selling anything online), but you’ll want to note this option if you sell your work or merchandise directly to your readers.
23&9 Creative
23&9 Creative - 23&9 Creative is a design agency that creates Squarespace templates and websites for entrepreneurs, creatives, and small businesses. Their templates feature unique designs, focusing on fun, colorful, feminine aesthetics.
Modern Day Creative Squarespace Template
The Modern Day Creative website template from 23&9 Creative is an excellent choice for authors looking for a colorful and vibrant website design. The template features many pink and unique graphic elements that give it a fun and modern feel. The homepage is well-designed, with significant sections about the author's work. The About page features an area for the author's bio and icons that showcase their interests. The portfolio section is creative, allowing visitors to click on individual items to learn more. The service sections are also well-designed, offering easy-to-read descriptions of the author's services. Overall, the Modern Day Creative website template is an excellent choice for authors looking for a fun and visually appealing website that is sure to engage their readers.
Boho Queen Squarespace Template
The Boho Queen Squarespace website template from 23&9 Creative is great for authors who prefer bold and colorful website designs. This template features a minimal chic design, with colors that can be easily changed to suit the author's preference. The homepage is well-designed, opening with an image and a headline, followed by a mission statement and links to the about, services, and contact pages. Additionally, there is a quote, a link to the portfolio, a "where we've been featured" section, and social media links.
The About page is exceptionally well-designed, with a grey-green text background color that is both unique and visually appealing. The services section is a great place to showcase the author's different types of work, while the portfolio section is an excellent choice for showcasing their writing. The blog section, referred to as the journal, is simple and effective, making it easy for visitors to navigate the author's posts. The footer includes navigation links and contact information, while the contact page is simple and effective, with a basic form that visitors can use to get in touch with the author.
Overall, the Boho Queen Squarespace website template is an excellent choice for authors looking for a bold and colorful website design that is visually appealing and easy to navigate.
Social Light Template
The Social Lite Template is an excellent option for authors who want a minimal online presence but don't want to invest heavily in website design.
This one-page website template is colorful, fun, and feminine, although users can easily customize the colors to fit their preferences. The template includes all the important sections, including an introduction with a headline, photos, a call to action, a brief bio section, and an area to list services. Users can easily add a blog section and links to their books. Additionally, there is a testimonial section, a contact page, and the option to build a newsletter contact list. Social media links are included in the footer, making it easy for visitors to follow the author on various platforms.
The Social Lite Template is available for just $129, making it an affordable option for authors who want to create a professional-looking website quickly and easily. With this template, authors can have their website up and running in just one day, making it an excellent choice for those who want to establish a minimal online presence quickly and affordably.
APPLET STUDIO
Applet Studio - Applet Studio is a great place to start if you want modern and bold Squarespace templates. Their designs are editorial in style and are particularly well-suited for coaches and service providers. However, these templates can be easily repurposed to suit thought leaders, authors, and podcasters. One of the unique features of Applet Studio is that some of their website templates come with matching social media templates, so your Instagram and your website can have a cohesive look. Applet Studio's Squarespace templates are worth checking out if you're looking for a modern and bold website design to help you stand out.
Hustle and Hart Template
Hustle&Heart is a Squarespace template with a feminine and magazine-inspired design that features attention-grabbing graphics. The color scheme of olive green, blush pink, brown, and white is unique and interesting but can be easily changed to suit individual preferences. While the template is geared toward service providers, it can be easily customized to reflect an author, podcaster, or thought leader.
The homepage includes all the important sections, such as a headline with an image and headline, a mission statement, an about section, a blog section, and a call to action. The services page is simple, clean, and easily modified to showcase specific services. The template also includes a shop if you want to sell digital or physical products, books, or merchandise and a blog that can be converted into a podcast page or an articles section.
While the template is well-designed, there are a few things that can be added to make it even better, such as a social media section in the footer with the Instagram grid, a newsletter or freebie sign-up, a call-to-action button in the navigation, and a contact page with a contact form.
Overall, Hustle&Heart is a great Squarespace template for anyone looking for a magazine-inspired design with customizable features.
Electra Template
If you're tired of all the boring blush, white, and minimal aesthetic commonly seen in website templates, the bold and striking Electra Template might be just what you're looking for. The Electra Template for Squarespace features aggressive red styling with black and white accents, creating a bold and striking visual appeal. While the colors can be customized, the prominent use of red gives the website a bold and confident feel.
The one-page website design allows for easy customization, making it an excellent option for authors, thought leaders, or podcasters who want to quickly and easily get their website up and running. The homepage includes all the necessary sections, such as a headline with a hero image and call-to-action, two areas that describe your work and mission, service offerings, a process overview, client testimonials, blog posts, and a contact page. The header includes a call-to-action button, and the footer features an Instagram feed.
The Electra Template is perfect for authors who prefer a bold style and want a visually striking and functional website.
Studio 89 template
The Studio 89 Template is the perfect choice for any author, podcaster, or thought leader who wants to add a modern look to their online presence. The colors of grey, burnt orange, and cream, combined with sans-serif fonts, create a fresh and contemporary feel.
Although this template is designed for service entrepreneurs, it can be easily customized to feature your books, writing, podcasts, or whatever else you're passionate about. One of the coolest things about this template is the abstract layout of the About page, which is visually stunning and adds a fun touch to your website. The clean and tidy footer features an Instagram guide, navigation, and social media links. In addition to the standard home, about, services, contact, and blog pages, the Studio 89 Template includes a shop page and multiple project layout pages, giving you all the tools you need to showcase your work and products in style.
I wish all Squarespace templates also had the option to purchase matching social media templates.
CONCLUSION
In summary, if you're an author looking to create a stunning website that reflects your unique brand and style, consider using a designer Squarespace template. We've highlighted some of our favorite Squarespace shops that offer professionally designed templates, ranging from bold and colorful to sleek and modern. These designer Squarespace templates are designed to elevate your online presence and showcase your work in style, making them an excellent option for authors who want a website that stands out. And with the opportunity to customize these templates to fit your specific needs, you can be sure that your website will genuinely reflect your author brand. So why settle for a basic website when you can have a professionally designed one that represents you and your work?
Want our help customizing your Squarespace template? Click here.
What do you think? Leave a comment below!
Was this article helpful? Did you learn something new? What’s one action item for you based on this article?
Know someone who might find this useful?
If you found this post helpful, please share it with someone else who might find it helpful.